Country reference
Netherlands work permits and salary thresholds
Photo: Andrés Barrios · CC BY-SA 4.0
Highly skilled migrant (kennismigrant)
The Dutch highly skilled migrant permit is applied for by your employer, not by you — and only an employer recognised as a sponsor by the IND can do it. In 2026 the salary criterion is €5,942 gross per month if you are 30 or older, €4,357 if you are under 30, and €3,122 under the reduced criterion. Holiday allowance does not count towards it.
Salary threshold by year
- Standard
- €5,9422025: €5,688 · +4.5%
- Under 30
- €4,3572025: €4,171 · +4.5%
- Reduced criterion
- €3,1222025: €2,989 · +4.4%
What the amount is:Gross per month, excluding holiday allowance — in the Netherlands that is a further 8% on top. Calculated from sv-loon: payments in kind and irregular elements such as overtime, tips and payments from funds do not count.
Does your offer clear the threshold?
The comparison runs in your browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere, stored or logged. It checks your figure against the published threshold — it is not a tax calculation and not advice.
Conditions
- Your employer is a recognised sponsor with the IND and submits the application for you.
- There is an employment contract.
- Your salary meets the criterion for your age group, excluding holiday allowance.
- The criterion depends on the moment, not only on your age. A first permit issued under 30 keeps the €4,357 criterion when the permit is extended, even after you have turned 30 — provided any change of employer since that first permit also happened while you were under 30.
- Change employer after turning 30 and the criterion becomes €5,942 instead, a rise of about 36%. The IND sets this out in the columns of its own table; summaries that publish a single pair of amounts do not show it.
- The salary is market-conform: comparable to the average for a similar job.
- You provide a statement that you have committed no crimes.
European Blue Card
The European Blue Card is the EU-wide route for university-educated workers. In the Netherlands its 2026 salary criterion matches the highly skilled migrant one at €5,942 gross per month, with €4,754 under the reduced criterion — noticeably higher than the €3,122 reduced criterion of the national scheme.
Salary threshold by year
- Standard
- €5,9422025: €5,688 · +4.5%
- Reduced criterion
- €4,7542025: €4,551 · +4.5%
What the amount is:Gross per month, excluding holiday allowance — in the Netherlands that is a further 8% on top. Calculated from sv-loon: payments in kind and irregular elements such as overtime, tips and payments from funds do not count.
Does your offer clear the threshold?
The comparison runs in your browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere, stored or logged. It checks your figure against the published threshold — it is not a tax calculation and not advice.
Photo: Rob Oo · CC BY 2.0
Is that threshold actually high?
A salary threshold means nothing on its own. Here it is next to what people in the country are actually paid, using official statistics you can check yourself.
1.42× the median full-time wage. That is what the visa threshold asks for.
- Median full-time pay (2022)
- €50,106 a year
- Full-time employees, industry, construction and services excluding public administration.
- Average full-time pay (2022)
- €59,527 a year
- Full-time employees, industry, construction and services excluding public administration.
- Statutory minimum, per month (2026-S2)
- €2,338
- Statutory monthly minimum wage, gross.
Earnings figures come from the Eurostat structure of earnings survey, which runs every four years — the latest period available is shown next to each figure. Minimum wages are published twice a year and are current.
The ratio compares the current threshold with the most recent earnings survey, so the two figures are from different years. Treat it as an order of magnitude, not a precise multiple.
Photo: Zairon · CC BY-SA 4.0
More about Netherlands
- Moving to the Netherlands from the US: the number that decides it
For an American the Dutch route turns on one salary figure and one fact about who applies. In 2026 that figure is €5,942 a month — about 1.42 times what a full-time worker in the Netherlands actually earns.
- The Dutch 30% ruling in 2027: what changes and who keeps 30%
The maximum tax-free share drops to 27% — but not for everybody, and not on the schedule that was announced first. Two details decide which rate applies to you.
- Netherlands income tax brackets: 2024, 2025 and 2026 compared
In 2024 there were two bands; in 2025 there were three. And the falling headline rate is not a tax cut — the national insurance half has not moved since 2024.
- Moving from the Netherlands to Germany
- Moving from the United Kingdom to the Netherlands
- Moving from the Netherlands to Spain
- Moving from Germany to the Netherlands
- Moving from the Netherlands to Portugal
Quoting a figure from this page
Every number here is checked against the authority that publishes it, on the date shown. Those numbers change without announcement — one on this site was correct for three months and then quietly was not. So if you quote a figure, quote the date with it, and check the source before you rely on it.
Career Space, “Netherlands work permits and salary thresholds”. Checked 2026-08-11. https://career-space.com/en/visa/netherlands
Sources
- 01Fees and required amounts for 2026 knownIND — Immigration and Naturalisation Service ·
- 02Fees and required amounts for 2025 knownIND — Immigration and Naturalisation Service ·
- 03National highly skilled migrant schemeIND — Immigration and Naturalisation Service ·
- 04Monthly minimum wages (earn_mw_cur)Eurostat ·
- 05Structure of earnings survey: annual earnings (earn_ses_annual)Eurostat ·
Every figure here comes from an official source and carries the date we checked it. How we work with data.
This page is information, not advice. We are not an employer, a recruitment agency, a visa centre or an immigration adviser, and we are not affiliated with any government body. Rules change — confirm against the official source before you act.